The CVS Pharmacy near me has a speedy staff of five. The Walgreens near me has a staff of one...

[onehandle]

...and usually takes several minutes to even talk to me.

The CVS is 24/7 and closer to me. The Walgreens is farther and closes at 6.

Guess which one our insurance forces us to use?

So I should just be glad I have insurance? Is that what you say, teabaggers?

'Let onehandle eat cake.'

[Ian David]

1. Walgreens has a smartphone app for refills.

You point the camera at the barcode on your pills, press a couple buttons, and your refill request is submitted.

[lbrtbell]

5. You can also refill by telephone or online

That will speed things up for you--a lot. Walgreen's will even mail your Rx at no charge, if you order via their web site. Otherwise, the local pharmacy can mail it for a small fee ($2 where I'm at). Then you don't have to go to Walgreen's at all.

It helps us rural folks a lot, and I hope it helps you, too!

[TheCowsCameHome]

2. I'd be happy to have a Walgreen within 20 miles, and only open

6 hours a day.

Screw those bastards at CVS. They suck.

[MADem]

3. Have you written to your insurance company and pestered them as to why?

Or called and complained?

Sometimes, griping helps.

Sometimes not, but it costs nothing to gripe.

[CreekDog]

4. I don't know, I miss Longs (CVS bought them)...but in Britain...

Last month, I went to a drug store to buy Ibuprofen.

It cost 39 pence for a pack of 32. ($0.60)

What would that cost in the USA? A lot more, right?

Universal healthcare, single payer, comprehensive. Britain has is, we don't. It costs us more to have less than they do.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

16. Yes I was surprised

I bought a packet of Paracetamol (Tylenol) over there and it was only 50 pence which I thought was reasonable.

[Spider Jerusalem]

21. And in Wales (but not England, Scotland or Northern Ireland) prescriptions are free.

[a la izquierda]

22. Can you adopt me?

Seriously. I won't leech off the system. I have a PhD- I can be a janitor or housekeeper. My husband can take care of your pets/kids.

[CreekDog]

24. Oh I live in California --I was just visiting London

though I really love it. :hi:

[a la izquierda]

28. Darn...

I definitely can't afford to live in CA. I lived there for 4 years and left for grad school.
:hi: back at ya!

[LibDemAlways]

6. My mom's insurance forces her to use a mail order

prescription service for refills called Express Scripts. It absolutely sucks. They routinely screw up, are rude and arrogant on the phone, and take their sweet time with deliveries. Thank God she has a local pharmacist working in a nearby supermarket who understands the problem and helps her out with generous discounts and even freebies when the mail order people crap out. A trusted pharmacist is no small matter to an 88-year-old, and it's a travesty that she can't routinely get her meds from someone local who knows her and understands her case. No one should be held hostage to incompetence and delays by their own insurance carrier.

[WinkyDink]

20. I'd think your mother is my mother, except mine is 87!

[Obamanaut]

23. We have used Express Scripts for continuing Rx for years with no problems at all.

The Dr writes the Rx, faxes it to Express, and a few days later it appears in the mailbox.

If it is for an immediate Rx (pain rmemedy following surgery, or antibiotic, for example), we go to CVS.

Express Scripts will contact the Dr for refills when due, or we can do that - it's a choice. We can get Rx for up to a 90 day supply.

We've been satisfied with the service. Even with their representatives via phone. There was an issue of non-delivery (the web site said it was sent, and we were charged, but it didn't arrive.) Called them, and they shipped a new supply with no hassle at all.

Experiences vary.

[LibDemAlways]

26. Here's a forum for unhappy Express Scripts customers. You

are fortunate not to have encountered any difficulties. I agree that experiences differ, though, and am glad that someone is having better luck than my mom.

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/rx/express_scripts.html

[Atman]

7. CVS is horrible. They may be convenient in terms of hours/location for you, but...

They are one of the worst pharmacies out there. My says they screw up her patient's prescriptions all the time, and they have to deal with CVS screw up every day. Besides, up here in New England, I can't think of a CVS location that doesn't have a Walgreens across the street (or a block or two away). I just avoid them almost the way I avoid Wal Mart.

[onehandle]

8. Well, I suppose it depends on where you are.

The nearby CVS has been great. The Walgreens couldn't find 'Blue Cross' to confirm my insurance.

'Blue Cross.' Never heard of it.

I had to read the account number from my card to them to get them to enter it properly. Apparently, they have problems with reading numbers.

[wtmusic]

12. Ditto.

It's easy to find the latest crap-du-season, i.e. lawn chairs, plastic pumpkins, turkey decorations - but if you want a staple that every drugstore should have 24/7, chances are CVS is out of it.

[woo me with science]

30. We tried CVS for several months, and they NEVER had a prescription ready when they said they would.

Not once.

Funny, though, as soon as we switched pharmacies, we got repeated calls from CVS asking where we'd gone.

:wow:

[sakabatou]

9. There's at least two people in the back for checking meds here

One to three at the front.

[apocalypsehow]

10. Wow, our insurance coverage lets us pick the pharmacy for every prescription. I always go with CVS,

too. You might want to call you provider and ask them what the deal is.

[onehandle]

11. It's a contract. I have a choice of Walgreens or mail order.

After this experience, I'm going mail order.

Oh, and it's only on 'maintenance' prescriptions. Piecemeal ones can be filled anywhere.

Those I will take to the 24 hour CVS.

[apocalypsehow]

13. I see, that makes sense, though it's still crappy that they make you go to a pharmacy you don't want

for the maintenance prescriptions. You know, my provider might do this too, and I just don't know it. I currently don't have any maintenance prescriptions in the household. After reading this thread I'm going to check into that. BTW, I'd be interested in knowing how the mail order prescription experience goes. My next door neighbor does this, and told me he and his wife are happy with it. But maybe they're just ordering Viagra... :evilgrin:

[wtmusic]

14. Having a choice between only two retail, brick-and-mortar pharmacies is the problem.

Antitrust, anyone?

[Archae]

15. I'm pretty lucky here.

Local pharmacy, they aren't open 24/7, but they do have several competent people on the entire time.

Located across the street from me.

Good service, free delivery if needed, (a couple times I was too sick to go there,) it's the sort of pharmacy I grew up with.

I detest chain pharmacies like Walgreens.

[nilram]

17. Yuck. Sorry you don't have any choice. CVS, though, for one of my

maintenance prescriptions, gave me a generic horsepill that was huge and bitter and rough and would gag me if I didn't swallow it super fast. Of course, my insurance only pays for generic. Fortunately, another pharmacy's generic of the same med is smaller and coated so it goes down better.

I hate shopping in general, so I time all my refills so that I can pick them all up at once. I can pick up a refill seven days before the old one runs out, so in a few months I can get any changes to synch up.

[blueamy66]

18. Walgreen's sux

The same script that I get filled at Walgreen's for $10 is $2.50 at CVS.

robber thieves

[WinkyDink]

19. Pharmacy depts all impress me as s-l-o-w even to acknowledge customers.

[CreekDog]

25. they want you to shop in the rest of the store

the slowness is not always an accident. :hi:

[robdogbucky]

27. Fuck Union-Busting CVS chain n/t

[Codeine]

29. I hate my CVS, but it's two blocks away, so I use it.

It's always vaguely dirty everywhere inside.

[Marrah_G]

31. I think the service often depends on the individual store

I work pt on the retail side of CVS and I know that the attitude of the staff depends directly on the managers they work for. I happen to work for a really good one, but the next town over there is a horrible one. Maybe its the same with Walgreens (I go to a really good one for my prescriptions). The only crappy thing about the job, besides the occasional jerk of a customer has been the pay.

My best advice is if you get crappy service, email and complain about it. Its the best way to bring bad managers to light.

[cbdo2007]

32. CVS messed up 3 prescriptions in a row for us - Walgreen's has been great.

Not sure what the point of your OP is but we've had a much better experience at Walgreen's than CVS.